Lenka Biography – of the Singer
This article is about Lenka, the Australian born singer-songwriter, best known for her
quirky and witty pop songs, such as “Trouble Is A Friend” and “The Show” from her
album named “Lenka”.
Lenka, whose full name is Lenka Kripac, was born in 1978. “Lenka” is a common name
given to girls of Slavic ethnic origin, and is a popular familiar version of the Slavic girl’s
name “Elena”. Her father was a jazz musician who had immigrated to Australia from
Czechoslovakia, and her mother was an Australian schoolteacher.
The young Lenka was raised in the Australian Bush until aged seven, when her family
moved to Sydney. There she received formal schooling and music training.
In her teenage years, Lenka studied acting at the Australian Theater For Young People,
where one of her fellow students was actress Cate Blanchett. During that time she
successfully completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts, majoring in sculpture, from the College
of Fine Arts (COFA) in Sydney, and started working as a musician.
She had a successful acting career in Australian TV serials, starring in the ABC-TV drama
series “GP”, as Vesna Kapek, during the 1990s. She hosted the series “Cheez TV”, and
has also guest starred in various other Australian TV series including “Home and Away”,
“Wild Side”, “Head Start”, and “Spellbinder”. She also appeared in some Australian feature
films, such as “The Dish” and “Lost Things”, as well as in many theatre productions.
Lenka’s first significant development in her musical career took place in 2004 when, as
Lenka Kripac, she joined up with the popular Australian electronic rock-crossover band
“Decoder Ring”, as lead vocalist and keyboards player. She remained with the band for
two of their albums, but despite this success, she decided to embark on a solo career,
in order to achieve more control over her musical future, and moved to Los Angeles,
California in 2007.
After adopting her first name as her sole artistic name, her first solo studio album,
which was recorded in Woodstock, NY, was released under the same name, “Lenka”,
on 23 September 2008. “The Show” was the first single release from the album,
and while achieving popularity in it’s own right, it was quickly snapped up for use in
advertisements, including one for “Old Navy” (an American clothing brand as well as
a chain of stores owned by Gap Inc.).
“Trouble Is a Friend” was the second single released from that album, in September 2009.
It was written by Thomas Salter and Lenka. The song also featured on the soundtrack
of the movie “Easy A” (a teenage comedy) which was released in September 2010.
Lenka’s talents are not confined to music (she plays piano, keyboards and trumpet)
and song writing. Her Bachelor of Fine Arts training carries through to her live
performances and the deliberately child-like visual paper art images of stop-motion
animations, which are used to promote her music, are known as “Lenkaland” on stage,
and are the result of collaborations with James Gulliver Hancock, a well known Australian
visual artist and illustrator – who now lives in the USA, and who is also her fiancé.
During 2009 Lenka and James held their first gallery exhibition, at the No. 12 Gallery
in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. This exhibition included a collection of works which related to
her music, including some set pieces, original drawings and prints.
They also published a manifesto entitled “We Will Not Grow Old”, which explained
the underlying philosophy behind their collaboration, in conjunction with that exhibition.
Lenka hopes to release her second solo album in early 2011.